March 18, 2008
Hailey was practically freaking out the next morning. She was nervous to leave her baby in the hands of someone she didn't know. Jay was too but was mostly trying to keep Hailey calm and get both of them as well as Kamryn ready.
"You wanna get her up?" Hailey asked, getting a bowl of oatmeal ready for their 2-year-old.
"Yeah, I got her," Jay nodded, heading to their daughter's bedroom. "Good morning munchkin!"
"Dada!" Kamryn giggled, jumping up and down in her crib.
"Come here you," he chuckled, taking her out of her bed and setting her on her changing table. Jay changed her diaper quickly and put her in a cute little outfit before carrying her down the steps to her mom.
"Mama!" Kamryn giggled, running towards Hailey as Jay set her on the floor.
"Good morning missy!" Hailey chuckled, picking her up and setting her on her hip. "You ready to go have some fun?"
"No! Mama!" The 2-year-old whined as she held onto Hailey's shirt.
"It's not for a while honey. We can still cuddle a bit. You wanna eat? I made you some oatmeal?"
"Mama," she whined, holding on tightly to her.
"Okay, you wanna sit on my lap?" Hailey asked, getting a nod from the toddler. So she sat at the table with Kamryn on her lap and carefully fed her so neither of them would get dirty.
"Her bag packed?" Jay asked, grabbing his things.
"Yep. Let's get going sis," Hailey smiled, wiping Kamryn's face after she finished her oatmeal.
They grabbed all of her things as well as their stuff before heading out to the cars. Hailey got Kamryn buckled in despite protesting from the 2-year-old, while Jay set her bag on the other side.
Hailey was able to hold herself together as she drove to the little daycare center. Jay pulled up right behind her, both of them pulling into parking spots. Jay got out of his car, went to the back of Hailey's car, and opened Kamryn's door.
"You ready?" He asked as he unbuckled the 2-year-old.
"Dada!" She whined, reaching for him before he carefully lifted her out of her seat.
"Hey, what's up baby? You're gonna go play all day and then take a nap and after that, mommy or daddy can come get you," Jay tried, holding onto the child as he shut the door.
"No dada!" She cried, holding onto Jay tightly.
"Kam, hey, Kammy, you're gonna be okay and mommy and daddy will be back okay?" Jay tried, holding the girl as she sobbed.
"Honey you're gonna be fine," Hailey told her, heading in with her baby and husband.
"Mama!" She sobbed, reaching for Hailey who took her and held her.
"I know honey, you're gonna be okay," Hailey told the little one again, almost reassuring herself as well.
As soon as they got to the classroom, Kamryn freaked out even worse.
"Hey Kammy, you're gonna be fine baby,"
"Hi honey," the teacher smiled, coming over to greet the new little one.
"Say, hi baby, that's miss Hannah," Hailey told her, hoping to get her to look up.
"Is this her first time in daycare?" Hannah asked, looking at both parents.
"Yeah, she's been with a nanny for a while," Jay told the teacher, playing with one of Kam's little pigtails.
"First day is usually pretty rough, it just takes them some time to adjust," the teacher explained, "Please feel free to call the director, we all have phones in our room and I can talk to you and let you know how she's doing," Hannah told her, Hailey nodding and kissing Kamryns head.
"Okay, baby. Mama and daddy have to go to work, so you're gonna stay here with Hannah. I love you," Hailey told her, leaning her toward Jay.
"I love you munchkin," he told her, kissing her head as Kamryn tried to grab onto him. "You're gonna have a fun day,"
With that, Hailey handed Kamryn over to Hannah and both of them headed out before Kamryn lost her mind. The cries started as soon as she was handed over to Hannah and the parents held it together until they got outside.
Once Hailey got to her car, the tears started flowing as she drove to the 11th district while Jay headed for the 26th. She pulled into a parking spot as Sarah pulled in behind her, parking in her spot beside Hailey's.
"So, how'd it go?" She asked as both of them got out of their cars. "And where'd this come from?"
"Jay bought it for me. Wanted something safe for Kam and I, it's his car that is the death trap now," Hailey answered, turning around to show her tear-stained face.
"That bad?" Sarah asked, knowing as a mom herself that the first day was hard.
"Yeah, she was fine. Until I handed her over and we left. I barely made it to my car before I broke down," She sighed as they both headed in and up to the Robbery-homicide area of the district.
"I'm sure she'll be okay. The first few days are really rough but once she's used to it, she'll be fine," Sarah told her friend as they got their coffee. "I think it took Wesley about a month and a half, but it only took Peyton a week or 2. And they all started at the same age as Kamryn,"
"If you say so. I'm already counting down the hours to when I can pick her up," she sighed, sitting at her desk.
"Time will fly by,"
"I hope so,"
——————
Around 1:30, Hailey had finally gotten back to her desk and had a moment to call the daycare and check on her baby.
"Kindercare, this is Holly. How can I help you?"
"Hi Holly, it's Hailey Halstead. Just wanted to check and see how Kamryn was doing?" She asked, biting her nails.
"Let me send you to her classroom,"
"Thanks,"
"Hi, Hailey?" Kamryn's teacher answered, making sure she clicked the right line.
"Hi, yeah. Just calling to see how Kamryn was doing?"
"She's sound asleep now, she took a while to go down. Does she have a binky or anything?"
"Most of the time, I catch her sucking her thumb, usually her blanket calms her down. Her dad snuck one of his old shirts in there that she loves if you guys need that,"
"Perfect. Other than that, she's had a pretty emotional day. I've caught her playing a few times but mostly upset which is completely normal,"
"Alright, thank you so much,"
"Yep, we'll see you later,"
——————
At 5:30, Hailey and Jay met up at the daycare, both ready to pick up their little girl. As soon as they were in the hallway, they could hear Kamryn crying and Hailey immediately felt guilty for leaving her all day.
"Oh Kamryn look, I think mommy and daddy are here for you," the teacher smiled, picking her up and carrying her over.
"Hi baby," Hailey sighed, taking her into her arms again, "I'm sorry we were gone all day,"
"How was her day?" Jay asked, taking the bag from the teacher.
"She was a little emotional," the teacher started but kept going after glancing at the rest of the kids in her class, "that's to be expected. If this is her first experience in daycare, it might take a bit for her to get adjusted,"
Hailey sighed and nodded, "Is there anything we can do for her to help her? She's always been with us and certain people,"
"If you guys can print out a family picture, that can help her. I've had a few kids that it's helped a lot with getting adjusted,"
"We can do that," Jay nodded, "we'll bring that tomorrow,"
The teacher nodded and waved goodbye as the couple left with their child. Kamryn wanted nothing to do with her car seat and screamed as Hailey tried to buckle her in.
"Mama!!" She sobbed and screamed, reaching for Hailey.
"I'm right here Kammy. Mommy's right here. You wanna go home? Maybe we'll have daddy stop for a happy meal?"
"Mama!" She screamed again, kicking in the seat so Hailey gave in and pulled her out.
"Okay. It's okay, calm down sweetie. Mommy's got you, we're gonna go home baby," she mumbled as she calmed her down slowly.
She knew it would be rough, she just didn't realize how rough it would be on the three of them.